New retail space, luxury condos planned for downtown Birmingham

Joey Jonna, founder of Jonna Luxury Homes in Birmingham, said he plans to construct a new 49,000 square-foot mixed use development on Old Woodward. The building will feature high-end retail and luxury condos. Tuesday June 24, 2014 Megan Semeraz-The Oakland Press

A new 49,000 square-foot, mixed-use development space is slated to be built in downtown Birmingham.

Joey Jonna, founder of Jonna Luxury Homes, said the new development will be called “The Forefront.” The first floor will be retail space, while the second and third floors will feature 11 luxury condos.

Jonna said he bought the Greens Art Supply building, an aging building located at 400 South Old Woodward Avenue, which is two blocks south of Brown Street. It is located in the Principal Shopping District of Birmingham.

Old Woodward has not had new construction in roughly seven years.

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He plans to demolish the site. The new development is set to be complete in the third-quarter of 2015.

“It’s kind of the main downtown-core area,” Jonna said. “It’s been an art supply store since the 1960s; they decided they are getting out of the business. It’s a second-generation family member and they were ready to sell.”

The family plans to move inventory to their downtown Rochester location, Jonna said.

The focus on the new development is “high-end residences.”

“The first floor will be a project of what makes most sense — to make it the nicest place to live,” Jonna said. “... We don’t know what it’s going to be yet — it’s still early.”

As for the condos, they will be custom and have the latest technology — including an iPad in every room to control things such as lights, televisions and fireplaces.

“That’s a lot of what we do,” Jonna said. “The space is designated ... The space will be yours.”

Jonna said there will not be parking issues with the building, because each unit will have two parking spaces.

The owners will be buying a lifestyle, not just a place to live, Jonna said.

“You get as much of a city life as you can (in Michigan),” Jonna said. “The (Birmingham) lifestyle is an important thing. From this location, you can walk to everything, which is a major amenity.”

Jonna believes his buyers for the condos will be a mix of old and young.

“It could be older, it could be someone with a large home who is looking to downsize, it could be a young up-and-comer — hard to say for sure,” Jonna said. “Being that they’re custom, I believe there’s a unit for everybody.”